Joe Joyce vs Joseph Parker – Which Joe will go?
BBN Editor, Tim Rickson, previews Joyce-Parker and predicts a winner
Not Your Average Joes – The WBO No.1 and No.2 clash in a WBO Final Eliminator.
Olympian Joe Joyce (14-0, 13KO) squares off against former world champion Joseph Parker (30-2, 21KO), on September 24, at the 21,000 capacity AO Arena, live on BT Sport Box Office, for the Interim WBO World heavyweight title.
The Briton gets the home advantage, but Parker has fought in the UK five times before and sets up his training camps in Morecombe with coach Andy Lee and close friend Tyson Fury, so should feel right at home this weekend, evening the playing field a little.
Last Fights
In Parker’s first fight with Dereck Chisora in 2021, the brash Briton came flying out of his corner to deck the New Zealander instantly, within the first seven seconds of the fight. It was a disastrious start for the man who was 2-1 down in his UK boxing record, which included back to back unanimous decision defeats to Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte in 2018, but the Kiwi rallied back to win the thrilling fight, bagging the WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title on a split decision.
Parker learned from his mistakes in the rematch and started faster this time, quick off the mark to hurt Chisora several times in the early stages of the fight, eventually forcing a standing eight-count in round four after landing a crunching right uppercut. He soon found a home for that backhand uppercut, as another identical move decked Del in the seventh, then again in the eighth. The 30-year-old was completely dominant but couldn’t find the punch to finish him off.
Joyce destroyed Christian Hammer in just four rounds in his last fight in July, quicker than Tyson or Hughie Fury managed to. No other opponent has made such short work of the teak-tough German before, but Joyce had to absorb at least a lot of big right hands in the opening rounds, which landed strong enough to knock out most other heavyweights. In round three, the Londoner’s non-stop assaults floored Hammer, then the Putney puncher finished him in the fourth.
Styles
It’s always the same pattern in the 37-year-old's fights – Joyce moves forward constantly, withstands a lot of clean punches due to his rigidity and lack of head movement, until he relentlessly forces his exhausted opponents into submission.
In the biggest test of his career so far, Joyce proved his durability when he took the best shots rival and stablemate Daniel Dubois had to offer, defeating the unbeaten powerhouse in round 11, fracturing his eyesocket, even though he entered the ring as the underdog.
Despite his main weakness, which is how easy he is to hit, no one ever expects the teak-tough Joyce to be stopped or even hurt during fights.
The WBO No.1 is unconventional, awkward and robotic, which sounds negative, but it works for him. Not every style is going to be pleasing to the eye. If you stand in front of him, he will take your hardest shots and accurately jab you back until you can take no more, like Dubois painfully discovered.
A Commonwealth gold medallist and Olympic finalist, Joyce is also good at upping the pace when he wants to due to his huge engine, and he possesses a killer instinct to go with it.
Parker is technically sound and a good mover, very fluid for a big guy, and puts combinations together well, showing just how experienced he is. Against Joyce, he might not have the freedom to combine those punches as well as usual due to Londoner's ability to counter quickly.
His best attributes to use will be his speed and movement. If he can get his best work off then get out quickly, he could rack up the rounds to win on points.
Parker doesn’t have a killer instinct like Joyce does, despite scoring 21 knockouts from 30 victories, which was exposed against Chisora. He knocked Del-Boy down three times and every time Chisora would walk over to the corner to tuck up safely, and Parker would show no urgency, letting him off the hook time and time again.
Prediction
I expect Parker to start brightly; swift, fluid and mobile, taking most of the opening rounds on the scorecards, while Joyce jabs his way in to get close enough to land his bigger blows, getting tagged by long ranging shots in the process. As it gets to the middle rounds, I see the fight evening up, then in the second half I expect Joyce’s sustained pressure and unyielding pace to take over. Joyce's style is so rare that it's almost impossible to prepare for. You can spar against pressure fighters, but it's not until you get in there with him that you really realise what it's like. He's a Duracell Bunny that doesn't stop punching you.
Parker could skip ahead to an early lead, which Joyce should gradually overturn in the second half, so even a draw is a possibilty if it becomes a game of two halves, which would then lead to a time-consuming rematch.
Personally, I envisage Parker taking a round or two off in the fight, sometimes he takes his foot of the gas for a bit of a breather, and if the energetic Joyce senses this for even a moment, he will move up a gear to set a higher pace and relentlessly punch him into submission.
I expect Joyce to win by TKO in the championship rounds, between rounds 10-12.